by Agatha Frost
“Julia!” Dot cried as she weaved through the crowd. “There you are! What’s going on?”
“They’ve arrested Father David.”
“He did it?” Dot gasped. “I told you he was up to something! I bet this has something to do with that phone call Percy overheard! You can’t trust anyone these days.”
Julia nodded at her gran, mainly because she wasn’t in the mood to argue. No one could say anything to convince her of Father David’s guilt. She had put him on her list of suspects, but only because she’d had so little to go on. Seeing him in the frame for real rid her mind of any doubt. There were few people she would have sworn were decent and good human beings to the core, but Father David was one of them, and he had proven that to the village time and time again. She should have been surprised at how quickly people in the crowd were turning against him, but she wasn’t. They were hungry for the next scrap of gossip, and they would stop at nothing until they had drained the victim’s blood and picked their bones clean.
Barker pushed back through the crowd. He grabbed Julia and pulled her away to the edge of the green, away from prying ears.
“It’s not looking good.” Barker’s eyes darkened. “Christie is convinced he’s found his guy. An anonymous letter showed up on the desk at the station. Nobody knows how it got there, but it told them to look in Father David’s desk to solve the mystery.”
The police car containing Father David drove past. Julia tried to catch his eye through the window to offer some reassurance, but he didn’t look up.
“What did they find?”
“The stolen items.” Barker gulped. “Father David reported them as missing on the day of Gloria’s death.”
“Why would he report them if he took them?” Julia could hear the exasperation in her voice. “Christie sees what he wants to see because he’s desperate to wrap this up in a neat bow before Christmas.”
“There’s more.” Barker sighed, his head dropping. “They found the arsenic with the items. As far as Christie is concerned, the case is as good as solved.”
Julia could hardly believe what she was hearing. The urge to run to the station to blast Christie took over her. Not a cell in her body believed Father David would murder members of his own church’s choir.
“This is too convenient. A letter shows up telling them exactly where to look to find crucial items and they just believe it?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“I’d question how the anonymous letter writer knew the exact location of the items.” Julia cast an eye to the church; the gathered crowd had yet to move. “Unless, of course, the sender of the letter put the items there to frame Father David.”
“Why would someone do that?”
“Because Father David owed a lot of money to someone.” Julia tapped her finger against her chin. “The police are going to rip his recent activity to shreds. They’re going to find out about his debts, giving them evidence and a motive. If he doesn’t have a solid alibi, the case is built for them.”
“And now they have a suspect in custody, they’re going to be less wary about throwing Rita’s murder into the mix.” Barker pinched between his eyes. “I know how this game works. They think they have all the jigsaw pieces in front of them, so they’re going to slot them together, regardless of the fit.”
“These are puzzles from two different boxes,” Julia said as a gust of icy wind whipped at her curls. “These murders were driven by money and the lack thereof. Gloria and Rita were killed because the murderer was desperate for cash. They took Rita’s jewellery, even going as far as ripping her necklace off her dead body. Few people would do something like that, and I’m certain Father David isn’t one of them.”
“Our rings!” Barker exclaimed, clicking his fingers together. “We still haven’t found our wedding rings! What if that same person took those too?”
Julia’s mouth curved into a hard smile as she considered the connection.
“If that’s true, it had to be someone who was in the church while we waited for the ambulance to arrive.” Julia cast her mind back to that long, awful hour. “Most of the guests had already gone, leaving our families, Father David, and the choir members. I definitely don’t remember seeing Skye there. She could have slipped in when I wasn’t paying attention, but she claims she was with Alfie the night Rita was stabbed.”
“And we can rule out our families,” Barker added. “And if the same person stole the rings, I’m even less inclined to believe Father David is part of this. Trinkets and jewellery are one thing, but wedding rings? I don’t believe a vicar would stoop that low, debt or not.” Barker paused, his brow creasing. “Wait, how do you even know Father David owed money?”
Julia had a lightbulb moment as her own jigsaw pieces slotted into place.
“Because Percy told me so!” she cried. “He told me he overheard the vicar paying a £2000 debt over the phone. Percy didn’t mention that anyone else was there, so it’s possible he’s only told Dot and me so far.”
“Which means the person who wrote the letter had to have known about Father David’s debt to make the frame job even remotely plausible!”
Julia’s mind ran through a dozen dizzying thoughts as she spun around and searched the crowd of shoppers for Percy’s eccentric clothes. At his height, he could have been anywhere, so she switched to looking for Dot, but her gran was also nowhere to be seen, despite having been there less than ten minutes ago.
“We need to talk to him,” Julia said desperately. “Time is running out. Let’s split up and look for him. If we don’t find him, let’s at least find out where he lives. He said something about living in a flat on Mulberry Lane.”
“Someone will know which flat it is.”
A lump rose in Julia’s thought as she fought back panic.
“We need to be quick,” she ordered. “My gran is too close to him. She might not be safe.”
12
Julia and Barker spent the better part of fifteen minutes searching the Christmas market for Percy, but he wasn’t there. They met where they had started, each with the same tip-off regarding Percy’s address. Without wasting a moment, they walked through the busy village to Mulberry Lane, which was crawling with shoppers who had spilt over from the market.
“Shilpa said he lived in the flat above the men’s clothes shop,” Julia said as they looked down the packed street. “Can you see it?”
“The one I buy my clothes from is at the end of the street.” Barker nodded down the road. “But look there. A new one has opened up where the bridal boutique used to be.”
“Then we split up and—”
“Look for clues?” Barker chuckled. “I’ll take the old bridal boutique.”
Leaving Barker behind, Julia weaved in and out of the shoppers, slowly making her way down the narrow pavement. With the twinkling Christmas lights strung between the two sides of the street and the beautiful Christmas displays in the shop windows, it was easy to forget they were still in November. If her gran were there with her, she would have made a comment about how Christmas was starting earlier every year.
Julia reached the bottom of the street. Her father’s antique barn seemed to be busier than ever with the festive shoppers out in full force. She turned to Gentlemen’s Club, the shop Barker bought his clothes from. It teemed with people despite it having the least festive display on the street. Three mannequins stood proudly in the window, each wearing a fitted suit. The only nod to the holidays was a spattering of sprayed on fake snow in the corners of the window.
The door to the flat above was recessed into the old stone. She walked up the two short steps and looked at the intercom system on the wall, but it provided no hint at who lived above. She pressed the buzzer and waited for a response.
“No luck at mine,” Barker said when he rejoined her. “Although, the nice lady called Audrey who lives there called me ‘handsome’ and invited me in for soup.”
“How could you decline such a kind offer?” Julia presse
d the buzzer again. “I don’t think anyone’s home.”
“I could check with the shop owner?” Barker offered. “I’m on quite good terms with Jimmy after I signed a stack of my books for him. He thinks they’re going to pay to send his kids to university one day.”
Barker ventured into the shop, leaving her to step out onto the pavement. She looked up at the flat above the shop. A grin spread across her face when she saw a pair of familiar circular red glasses poking through the curtains. Percy saw her and darted back. Knowing there was nowhere to hide, Julia pressed the buzzer again.
“H-hello?” Percy’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Who is it?”
“It’s Julia,” she called. “Dot’s granddaughter. I need to talk to you.”
“Now’s not a good time, dear.”
“It’s urgent.”
There was a long pause, and Julia imagined the man panicking upstairs. As far as Julia knew, the flat had only one exit, and she was standing in front of it. Just when she thought she might have to wait all night, the intercom buzzed, unlocking the door.
Leaving Barker in the shop, Julia ventured inside. She walked up a plainly decorated staircase to Percy’s door, which was open for her arrival. She stepped inside, surprised by how darkly decorated the flat was. The walls were burgundy, hung with framed posters of famous magicians. There was no television, just an old-style radio in the middle of a dark chestnut coffee table. Elvis crooned gently, asking “Are you lonesome tonight?”
Percy appeared from the kitchen with a tray containing a teapot, two cups, and a plate of chocolate digestive biscuits. The kitchenware rattled as he set it down on the coffee table.
“Dot said you like a strange type of tea, but I’m afraid I only have black.” Percy motioned for Julia to sit on his dark floral sofa. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this afternoon? I was just relaxing after our performance at the market. I’m not really one for shopping, and there is such a thing as too much excitement when you get to my age.”
Julia sat down and watched as he poured her a cup of tea. He offered her milk and sugar, but she declined. Remembering how Gloria had died, she decided she wasn’t going to bring the cup to her lips.
“I assume you heard about Father David’s arrest?” Julia asked as she rested the cup on her knee.
“I did!” Percy poured himself a cup of tea and added plenty of milk. “I saw the commotion at the church, but I couldn’t quite see over the crowd. I was rather shocked when Dorothy told me what was going on.”
“You were?”
“Of course!” Percy slurped his tea as he settled into the armchair across from Julia. “I know I overheard his telephone conversation, but I didn’t really think he was involved. Who would expect a man of God to resort to murder?”
Julia narrowed her eyes. She wanted to figure the man out, but she couldn’t see if anything more lay beneath his sweet exterior.
“I heard you were once an item with Gloria.” Julia prompted, changing direction. “That’s what Flora said, at least.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say we were ‘an item’, dear.” Percy chuckled as he placed his cup on a side table. He fiddled with his bowtie. “Do you like magic?”
“Magic?”
“Tricks!” Percy pulled a pack of cards from his pocket. “I was quite the magician back in my day.” He shuffled the cards before holding them out to Julia. “Pick a card but don’t show me.”
Julia plucked a card from the pack. Four of diamonds. When instructed, she placed it back in the deck and watched Percy reshuffle them. He waved his hand over the deck and pulled up the top card.
“Was this your card?”
Julia shook her head at the three of spades.
“Oh, rats!” he cried as he slotted the cards back in the breast pocket of his shirt. “I fear I’ve lost my touch with age. The Magic Circle would revoke my membership in a heartbeat if they knew. Still, I was quite good back in my day.” He nodded at a poster on the wall. “They called me Percival the Great. Oh, it was a lot of fun. I travelled all over the Cotswolds with my act. Those days are far behind me now.”
The poster depicted a cartoon rendering of Percy in a top hat and cape. He wore his round glasses, but he appeared much younger and had a full head of hair.
“I retired decades ago,” he explained. “But I never lost the bug! Nothing brings me more joy than tricking someone with a sprinkle of magic, but it’s a young man’s game. Where was I?”
“Gloria.”
“Ah, right you are!” He wagged his finger as he readjusted himself in his seat. “I enjoyed a decade of retirement, but I was itching to get back on the stage if only one more time. The spotlight is a tempting mistress. I never knew how much I craved the audience’s energy until it went away. I’m eighty now, but I wanted to do one last show before I turned seventy, so I must have been sixty-nine at the time. I announced one final show to end all shows. The Return of Percival the Great! I expected it to be a little show at the village hall with a dozen or so people, but tickets sold out.”
Percy paused and sipped his tea.
“It stroked my ego a little too much, pushing me to announce a week of shows,” he continued. “They all sold out too! It was going to be my big send-off. One last bite of the apple before I finally settled down into my old age.” He paused to sip his tea as he stared at the poster on the wall. “Of course, it was an epic failure! Most of my tricks went wrong on the first night. I picked Gloria at random from the audience to be the woman I sawed in half. The box couldn’t sustain her weight, so the bottom caved, ruining the whole illusion! I was laughed off stage. Word got around, and by the end of the week, most people had asked for refunds.”
Percy shook his head and exhaled.
“Gloria came back for the final show, and we somehow ended up having a drink together at The Plough. She was twenty years younger than me, so I knew it was never going to work, but it was fun to have some female attention. My poor Joyce was taken from me before I retired, so I’d been rather lonely in this little flat on my own.”
“What happened with you and Gloria?”
“We went on a couple of dates, but it was obvious things weren’t going to work. I called things off before they got too serious.”
“Flora said Gloria ended things.”
“Well, she would say that!” Percy laughed. “She was one of the reasons things weren’t going to work. She kept turning up on every date and inserting herself into it. Gloria didn’t seem to mind, but I did! And then Gloria expected me to pay for everything. I know it’s the gentlemanly thing to do, but I was, and still am, a pensioner! My years on the stage didn’t bring me riches. After forking out all those refunds, I was scraping by, and paying for Gloria’s three-course meals wasn’t in my budget. Oh, that woman could eat! Still, things ended amicably, and I joined the choir soon after. It gave me something to do with my days, and I got to enjoy a bit of performing again, even if Gloria always insisted on being the centre of attention.”
“And what about Rita? What was your relationship like with her?”
“I didn’t have one, dear.” Percy frowned before sipping his tea. “I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but I don’t think I ever said two words to the woman. Rita was only ever concerned with Rita. I doubt she even knew I was there half the time.” Percy paused and looked down into his tea. His expression softened, and he looked up at Julia with a sad smile. “You think it was me, don’t you?”
“I-I-I—”
“Your grandmother told me all about your gift for unravelling a mystery.” Percy pulled a silk cloth from his pocket and wiped his glasses. “I can assure you, dear, I had nothing to do with their deaths. Why would you think I had?”
“Because you knew about Father David’s debt,” she explained. “Someone wrote to the police to tell them to search the church. They arrested Father David because they found the stolen church items and the arsenic in his vestry.”
“What stolen church item
s?” Percy put his glasses back on. “I can assure you, this is the first I’m hearing about it.”
Julia instantly wanted to believe him, but a voice in the back of her head reminded her not to trust him. He had, after all, admitted that he loved playing tricks on people. Had his years on the stage perfected his acting skills?
“Rita caught someone stealing from the church on the morning of my wedding.” Julia leaned forward and placed the untouched cup on the table next to the radio exclusively playing Elvis tunes. “Rita was the target all along. Gloria stole Rita’s water bottle, which I suspect had the arsenic in it.”
“Yes, the water bottle.” Percy nodded. “I was there when she took it. Gloria was always doing things like that to people. She had a nasty edge to her that always came out in those choir meetings. I saw a softer side to her on our handful of dates, but I don’t think many got to see that. Why on earth do you think I would want to kill either of those women?”
“For the money.”
“Money?” Percy chuckled as he bobbed his head from side to side. “What do I want money for? Look around you, dear. I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in the cupboards, and, now, the company of a great woman. Money is temporary. It comes and goes, and you can’t take it with you. I only have a few years left on this planet, if I’m lucky. I’m fortunate to still have my mind and health. Why would I want to jeopardise being a free man in the last act of my life for something as pointless as money, especially when I have found the one thing I thought I would never experience again.”
“But you were the only one who knew about Father David’s debt,” Julia said, hearing the desperation in her tone. “Unless you told people?”
“I told Dorothy and you, but that’s it.” Percy paused to think. “If I overheard that phone conversation, it’s more than likely that others overheard other phone calls, and that’s only if Father David really is innocent. Have you considered that he might be guilty?”
